


Orbs of Myth (Book 1)

by RedHawk74



Series: Elemental Nations [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Evil, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), OT12 (EXO), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Red Force (EXO), War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:40:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28951329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHawk74/pseuds/RedHawk74
Summary: Kyungsoo always knew something was different about him. It wasn't until he moved into Exodus, the city territory between the four nations, that the truth began to be revealed. He never knew that so much was happening outside of general citizen knowledge.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Elemental Nations [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123484





	1. Chapter 1

In a large room, an old woman sat in a faded red wingback chair. Around 60 or so children from the ages of 5 to 12 were sitting on the floor in front of the elderly lady. She was holding a large blue leather book that held a hexagon impression on the front. She opened that book and started to read from the first page.

“Long ago, the nations of the old world lived in harmony. But everything changed when The Red came. The Red had taken control of metal beings that looked similar to us humans and they attacked the people of the land. Millions of people were lost before a sliver of hope arose. A group of 12, that everyone called Exo, became the heroes that the world needed. They saved entire cities before The Red could attack. They became known as the 12 legends. The war between The Twelve Legends and The Red lasted for many years before The Legends managed to defeat him. The day The Red was defeated was also the day the Twelve Legends disappeared. 

From the time the Twelve Legends disappeared, there were 2 major events/things that happened. For the past 1500 years, people began to develop elemental abilities similar to the legends, but not exactly the same. Back then, no one could tell what type of power someone would have until they actually used their ability. But now, a person’s hair color indicated which main element they were connected to. They would have different shades of color depending on what aspect of the element they could control. People with Fire had red hair, Water had blue hair, Air had white hair, and Earth had brown hair. 

Around 1000 years after the Legends disappeared, the Terran population was decimated when an epidemic swept through the nations. People would get sick and fall asleep. Their condition would either worsen or get better, no one could tell what would happen to anyone that got the sickness. The only ones that survived were non-ability wielders and those strong enough to survive the sickness. Thankfully, the times of hurt and pain are long gone and done. Though some people say that The Legends will return in our time of need once again,” she said as she closed the book. 

Kyungsoo, one of the older boys of the younger group was in awe. The Legends sounded so cool. They managed to defeat The Red and save the whole world! The other children that were around him were all talking about how cool and awesome the legends were. The room was getting really loud, but Kyungsoo didn’t mind. He was just as excited as they were.

“Now, children!” the elderly lady in the front called out. Everyone quieted down as she continued to talk. “They may sound ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’, but they had work and chores that they needed to do and so do you!. Now shoo! Go do your jobs young ones,” she said as she shooed them away with her hands. Kyungsoo stood up with the rest of the children. He admired the legends and hoped that one day, he could be  _ just _ like them. 

10 years later

Kyungsoo woke up breathing heavily. He had been dreaming, although it was more of a nightmare for a few days now. The dreams had started on his 18th birthday. He sat up in his bed, brown covers falling off his body and onto the bed. He put his feet on the floor and sat there with his head in his hands. He took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed as he tried to calm his beating heart. He saw the same images flash in front of him. One of them stood out, more vivid than the rest. 

**_“Remember, Legends, when you perish on the battlefield, you will awaken sometime around 1,500 years in the future. Do not be afraid as your bonds with each other will still be there. You will remember everything once you turn 18.”_ ** _ MAMA explained to the twelve of them. _

Kyungsoo was reborn 1500 years into the future, he knew that. MAMA had said that he would remember all of it, but he could not remember who the other legends were. When he first heard that phrase, he felt confused. Over the past few days, it had turned into fear and anxiety. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t remember everything as MAMA had said, but he knew that he shouldn’t dwell on it long. 

He stood up and looked around the room for his traveling bags. He had already informed the village that he would be leaving and traveling to Exodus. It was the largest city on the Continent of The Four Great Nations. The city of Exodus was almost the size of one of the smaller nations.

Kyungsoo didn’t tell anyone in the village about who he was because of his concern that they would all panic. The story of how the legends would return only in a time of need, would come to the minds of the villagers and then they would think the world would be ending. Kyungsoo had to find the others, and the only thing that he could remember that connected them was The Tree of Life.

In his memories, he could remember how large and magical it was. The brown and green colors of the tree popped out and attracted the attention of those that noticed its beauty. At the start of dusk all the way to the beginning of dawn, the tree would give off a bright white glow from its leaves. The tree had stood in the center of their operations, reaching a height of 90 feet the last time he had seen it. 

He opened his closet and found his bags at the bottom. He had already packed the essentials several days before. He grabbed the two stuffed brown bags and exited his room. He wandered down the short hallway and into a small kitchen and living room. He looked around the place he had called home with sadness creeping into his soul. He probably wouldn’t be coming back. He turned to the door and walked out closing the door behind him. Kyungsoo walked down the path toward the village without looking back. 

It was a short 5 minutes of walking with the sunrise behind him creating shadows on the ground that became shorter as he entered the town as it was waking up. He heard the sounds of families inside their homes as they were getting ready for a normal day. He walked down until he came to a familiar house. The house looked just like all the other houses in the neighborhood except for the bright red peonies that were in the front garden. The house itself was made of stone and was the usual grey color. The roof was also made up of stone, but it was a darker more muddy color. The door was made of wood from the limited amount of trees in their valley. The house belonged to his grandparents and he entered the house without knocking. He found his grandmother already up and cooking breakfast. When he looked around, he noticed his grandfather wasn’t in the room. This meant his grandfather was either sleeping or getting ready to go work in the fields. 

“Good morning, Grandmother,” Kyungsoo said with a straight face and a formal tone. 

“Oh, Kyungsoo, honey. You know that you don’t have to be so formal when it’s just family,” the woman lightly scolded him as she waved a cooking utensil at him. His face broke out into a small smile as he chuckled faintly. 

“Sorry, Ma. I’m just used to using it all the time with the other villagers in the field. It’s also great practice for when I get to Exodus in a few days.”

“That’s fine. Practice does make things closer to perfect,” his grandmother replied. Kyungsoo placed his traveling bags next to the door, taking off his shoes. He was never allowed to wear shoes in the house because it could dirty floors and carpets. He moved to the dining room table and took out a chair to sit in. “Kyungsoo dear, before you sit down for breakfast, could you go wake your grandfather?” his grandmother asked from the kitchen. 

“Yes, Ma,” Kyungsoo replied as he walked over to the hallway. He walked passed the door on the left and went to the door that was on the right. Along the way, he saw paintings that showed what his parents looked like before the horrible accident that took their lives. There was also a painting that included his entire family, cousins from other villages included. He was around 4 years old when that painting was made. 

He turned back toward his grandparents’ room. He opened the door and saw his grandfather was still sleeping. He smiled lightly before walking over and gently began shaking his grandfather to wake him up. “Pa, it’s time to wake up. Ma is making breakfast. You don’t want to miss that, do you?” Kyungsoo asked while he waited for his grandfather to open his eyes and sit up. 

“Ah, I’m up. Tell Ma I’ll be down soon,” his grandfather replied while waving Kyungsoo away from him as he slowly sat up. Kyungsoo left the room, the mission his grandmother sent him on was a success. 

He returned to the kitchen and found that the dining room table had been set and his grandmother was carrying in the food from the kitchen. Kyungsoo quickly came to her side. “I’ll take this, Ma. I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Kyungsoo said as he took the bacon and eggs. As he turned to set the food on the table, he didn’t notice as his grandmother shook her head with a small smile on her face. 

Once the food was on the table, his grandfather walked into the room. He was wearing the traditional farmer clothes that he, and all the other farmers, would wear almost every day. His grandfather’s uniform was composed of a green long-sleeved shirt with brown overalls. Other farmers had either the same colors or different, but all the uniforms were the same. Kyungsoo sat down as his grandfather walked to the table, sitting where his morning tea was waiting. 

“Myunghee, you make the best tea in the village,” his grandfather said as he sipped the tea. His grandmother smiled softly. 

“You say that every morning, Junyoung,” his grandmother replied as she sat at the other end of the small rectangle table. Kyungsoo had already started to serve himself some food.

“Yet it never gets old,” Kyungsoo’s grandfather said with a small smirk. Kyungsoo began to eat his food, shaking his head at his grandparents' daily antics. 

“So, Kyungsoo,” his grandmother started. Kyungsoo looked up from his plate and to his grandmother. “Have you told your grandfather what today is?” she asked. Kyungsoo swallowed his food and turned to his grandfather. 

“Pa, today I’m going to start my journey to Exodus,” Kyungsoo said. His grandfather, who was in the middle of drinking tea, started to cough and sputter. 

“What? Why would you want to leave the village? Everything you’ve ever known is here,” his grandfather spoke as soon as he recovered from his coughing fit. 

_ ‘I know a lot more than you think I know grandfather,’  _ Kyungsoo thought before he responded. “I’ve always wanted to see what it was like in Exodus. It is a large city and I would be able to share the culinary skills and the baking skills that you taught me. I would show the city that we Terrans, are good at making food and not just growing it,” Kyungsoo explained. He wanted his grandfather to understand one of the reasons that he wanted to go to Exodus.

“That is a good argument. I don’t like that you, our only grandson, is going to be heading off to somewhere unknown. Especially after the...accident,” his grandfather sounded a bit sad at the end. 

Kyungsoo looked back down at his food as he remembered that night. The screams of his parents as they burned inside the house. The way the fire consumed the whole building, leaving only parts of the walls. The tight hug of his grandparents as they held him while he cried for his parents. He snapped out of it before it became too real. He took a deep breath in and exhaled a shaky breath as before he continued. 

“Pa. Traveling the world and serving our food in Exodus has been my dream since I was small. You can’t expect me to just throw it all away,” Kyungsoo replied as he looked at his grandfather. Kyungsoo stood up and pushed in his chair. He looked towards his grandmother. “I’ll be leaving the village before the sun is at its peak.” He walked to the door, put on his shoes and grabbed his bags. “I promise to write letters to you both. I’ll explain what everything looks like and write about my experiences,” Kyungsoo said as he walked out of the door.

He still had to say goodbye to his childhood friends. He walked in the opposite direction of his grandparents’ house and toward the town center. His friends always hung out in the center of town near the fountain in the morning before starting their jobs. He walked through the streets, ignoring the other villagers looking at him with interest. They have never seen anyone, let alone Kyungsoo, have travel bags with them. Once Kyungsoo entered the center of town, he saw his friends, a young man and woman, sitting by the fountain in the middle. He walked to them and dropped his bags on the ground with a soft thud. They stopped in their conversation abruptly and turned to see what had made the noise. 

“Kyungsoo, what are you doing?” asked Kwanghoon, the tall man with a quizzical expression.

“Why do you have traveling bags? Are you leaving?” the young woman, Sanghee, asked, worry laced her voice. Kyungsoo looked at his friends. 

He took a deep breath and said, “Sanghee, Kwanghoon. Today, I’m going to Exodus. I’m leaving in a few hours.” Sanghee looked shocked. Kwanghoon was also a bit shocked but didn’t show it like Sanghee.

“Why are you leaving? Everything you’ve ever known is here!” Sanghee said with tears in her eyes. Kwanghoon took her into a side hug and let her cry. 

“Now that I’m finally old enough to cross the border, I’m going to fulfill my dream of going to the city,” Kyungsoo answered. Sanghee was still crying as Kwanghoon rubbed her back. Kyungsoo felt a bit uncomfortable because she wasn’t the type to cry. “I only came to say goodbye before I left,” he continued. Kwanghoon sat Sanghee on the edge of the fountain before he embraced Kyungsoo in a hug. Kyungsoo hugged him back before they both pulled away. 

“Remember to come and visit every once and a while, or at least write,” Kwanghoon said as he patted Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Okay. But don’t expect any letters for a while as I will need to get settled in and get a job before I can send letters. And even those will take a few weeks to travel,” Kyungsoo said as he went to pick up his bags. Before he could pick them up, he felt a weight jump onto him, sending him to the stone ground of the square.

“I’ll miss you Kyungsoo!” he heard the voice of Sanghee cry from on top of him. “You better write about your experiences and about what the city looks like,” She said. Kyungsoo was still being crushed into the ground. 

“Hee, you’re squishing him into the ground. I also don’t think he can breathe when your sitting on top of him,” Kwanghoon said with a smirk. Sanghee instantly sat up. 

“I’m so sorry, Soo!” Sanghee quickly apologized. “I’m just sad that your leaving,” Sanghee said as Kwanghoon pulled her into another hug. Kyungsoo got used to seeing them hug after they started dating years ago. 

“Before that, I’ll need a place to stay and a job and earn some money. But, yes. I promise I’ll write,” Kyungsoo said as he grabbed his bags off the ground. He waved to the two of them as he walked out of the village. 

He had a lot of ground to cover before he could even reach the border of the country. Though the actual thought of getting to Exodus excited him. In just over a week, he would be in the largest city the world had ever created. There was going to be so many things that he had never seen before. It would take over a week of walking through an unfamiliar forest before he arrived in Exodus. The thought made his excitement quickly fade away. He would have to walk a long way to finally reach the city. Kyungsoo sighed. He left the village not even an hour ago. He was going to be going on a long walk and he was going to be so bored during this trip. It wasn’t until he was a good distance down the road before he dared to relax. Only then, did he think about the real reason for why he was going to Exodus. Questions flooded his mind. Would he meet the others there? Would he be able to remember everything? He hoped that MAMA could help him with his problem. The thought that excited him the most, was that he could share the ancient and probably extinct food from his past life.


	2. Chapter 2

A FEW DAYS LATER

Kyungsoo was exhausted. He had been keeping up a brisk walk all day with few moments of rest. He did not even stop to eat a hot meal but ate as he walked. He hadn’t slept much the previous night between the recurring nightmares and the loud growling sounds he could hear in the near distance. He had seen tracks from a large animal on the path for the last 2 days as he neared the border. He couldn’t identify the animal, but he knew that it wasn’t a wolf and it wasn’t a bear because the tracks didn't look like it came from paw prints. The tracks had a sharper defined edge. 

Kyungsoo looked up at the sky and then back to his map. It was getting dark and he was at least another 14 hours away from the border. He sighed in irritation. It looked like he would be spending another night camping out in the open. He folded his map and put it into his pack. He had been keeping his eyes open around the path for a small clearing which he could use for a place to camp for the night that had some shelter. Thankfully, just a few yards off the path was a clearing. 

He jogged up to the clearing and dropped his packs. He looked closer and saw signs that other people had used it before him. There was a small ring of rocks indicating someone had used the area for a camp’s fire and a few charred logs had remained. Kyungsoo gave an internal sigh of relief as it would be easier and quicker to start a fire with the partially burned logs available to use. The charred logs wouldn’t last very long into the night. He walked a bit into the surrounding wood and picked up small sticks and fallen wood that could be used to make a good fire. He returned to the clearing and used them to build his fire. 

In preparation for his journey, Kyungsoo had spent months learning everything he could about traveling alone and what skills he would need to learn and practice before leaving. He remembered that trick from a book he had gotten from a traveling peddler. Kyungsoo quickly started to set up his place to sleep. He looked up at the darkening sky just as he was finishing and saw that there were no clouds to cover the stars that night. Kyungsoo gave a sigh of relief. A clear sky meant that there would be no rain. It also meant the moon would be bright and it would light up the clearing.

He had placed out his sleeping bag before taking out a pot from his pack. He had found a nearby stream when looking for wood and had filled up his canteen and used some of that water to heat some tea. While he waited for the water to heat, he thought back to the nightmares he had been having. He had begun to wonder if they were somehow connected to the terrifying sounds that he had heard the previous 2 nights. 

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the boiling of water. He took the pot off the fire and reached into his pack and took out a small cup. He poured a bit of water into it before adding a few spices that he had learned were helpful in relaxing people. He sipped his calming tea as the light in his small campfire flickered about. He felt exhaustion overtaking him as he finished his tea. He quickly placed the cup back into his travel bag and left the pot with the water next to the fire. He climbed into his sleeping bag before he fell into the darkness of sleep. 

**_Kyungsoo was running through a city, dodging people and plasma beams. The ground was shaking as he continued to throw chunks of rocks at the robots. Out of the corner of his eye, another robot came at him with a plasma beam. He dodged and hid behind a wall that had collapsed from the nearby building. The ground shook even more as yet another building fell to the ground. The screams of fleeing people grew louder and then abruptly stopped for a brief moment as the collapsed building caused an intense shockwave, sending anyone who was running near its falling path of debris to go flying off their feet and to the ground. Kyungsoo covered his ears as another explosion went off a few yards away on his left. His ears were ringing, but he pushed his tired body and got up and went back out there to continue to fight._ **

**_For a brief moment, everything seemed to slow down. His vision zoomed in to a little girl that was crying. Her brown hair was up in pigtails and her little green dress was ripped in a few places. Her right hand was wiping away tears as her left hand held a teddy bear. As he looked around, he took notice that there were a lot more droids in the area and a few had locked onto the little girl, their red eyes glowing with evil malice. Just as quickly, everything resumed normal speed and he found he was running toward the little girl. He was a few feet away from her when the droid’s plasma beam hit her. Kyungsoo held her in his arms as she turned to dust, the teddy bear that the little girl was holding was the only thing left. He held onto the teddy bear and cried out in desperation as the droids closed in on him. Just as they were about to hit him with their plasma beams, everything turned white._ **

Kyungsoo sat up with a silent scream and it took him a moment to realize he was back in the clearing. His heart was beating so fast that it’s thumping beat was all he could hear. He slowed his breathing as he started to calm himself down. The dream he had just had seemed so real. 

He looked around the campsite and saw that the fire was out and the bright stars had started to fade as the sky was showing the beginning of dawn. With a heavy sigh, He quickly got out of his sleeping bag and started to pack up camp. There was little reason to go back to sleep with the approaching dawn. He poured some of the water from the pot onto the fire pit to make sure the fire was completely out and the remaining water went into his water pouch. He placed the pot back into his bag before he rolled up his sleeping bag. He stood up, put his bags on his back, and looked around at the area where he had camped. He wanted to make sure he had not forgotten anything. He left confident that everything looked just as he had found it. He turned and found his way back to the road to continue on his long journey. He had a lot of distance to cover and he could deal with his thoughts while he walked.

Kyungsoo couldn’t forget the nightmare from last night. How the girl was vaporized by the robots. He had been so close to saving her, too. He did not doubt that the nightmare was a memory from his past life. Kyungsoo nodded to himself as he walked back to the path to continue his journey. He thought back to the memory he had relived as he continued to walk. The robots had glowing red eyes and were attacking everything alive. 

He thought back to the story the village elders had told all the young children at least four times a week. “But everything changed when The Red came. The Red had taken control of metal beings and they attacked the people of the land. Millions of people were lost before a sliver of hope arose.”

He remembered it like he just heard the story yesterday. The robots were being controlled by The Red, killing everything in sight. The Red. It sounded familiar to him now that he thought about it. He knew that The Red was called “The Red something”. He couldn’t remember what was supposed to be in place of the “something” in that sentence, but he hoped he would remember it soon. 

Kyungsoo was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a few faint shouts and the smell of burning wood. He quickly ran toward the source, running off the road and through many trees on his right. When he got to the other side of the tree cover, he found a small town that had buildings that were destroyed and many other things on fire. People were running around the place, putting out as many fires as they could with the water they were carrying. 

Kyungsoo quickly ran up to the closest person. It was a man with light brown hair and black eyes. He looked to be a few years older than Kyungsoo. “What happened here?” he asked with worry and concern heavily laced in his voice. 

Kyungsoo felt a wave of pity overwhelm him as he looked around the village scene. The people had many of their buildings and small market destroyed because of the wild animal. He thought about his situation. He just came to a village that was attacked by a wild boar. There was damage everywhere and he wanted to help. But he was a Legend and if he showed more than one aspect of his powers, then he might be discovered.

“What did the creature look like?,” Kyungsoo says with worry in his voice. “I am traveling through and I think I would rather avoid crossing its path if it is possible.”

The older man looked a bit stressed at the question. “Well, it “looked” like a wild boar, but it was not like any boar I have ever seen. Not only was it unusually large, but it was behaving strangely. Usually, boars avoid coming to villages. If they do stumble upon one, they try to avoid everyone and everything. This large just came charging into the village, destroying everything that got in its path,” the man said. 

Kyungsoo looked back at the surrounding village and at the people struggling to fix the damage done. 

“Is there any way that I can help?” Kyungsoo asked. He wanted to. No, he needed to help. The older man looked back at Kyungsoo. 

“Well, we had a building cave in and no one with abilities can help. Though we have some of our strongest men trying to dig out the people under the rubble. We also have multiple fires and house damage around the village to deal with,” the man replied. 

He looked back at the man after thinking for a second. “Show me where the collapsed building is located. I might be able to help,” Kyungsoo said in an urgent voice. The man nodded and speed-walked toward the west of the village. Kyungsoo quickly followed behind the man. 

Around a minute later, they made it to a house. The roof was caved in and the walls were barely standing. Kyungsoo quickly ran to the rubble and saw a few men throwing rocks off of the pile. Off to the side were a man and a woman. The woman was in the arms of the man, crying her eyes out. The man looked desperately at the pile of rocks. Then, Kyungsoo noticed the stuffed animal in the mother’s arms. 

Suddenly, an image flashed in front of him. The little girl from his dream appeared in his vision for a second before it disappeared. Her brown hair was up in pigtails and her little green dress was ripped in a few places. Her right hand was wiping away tears as her left held a teddy bear. Then he was brought back to reality. He took off his bags and placed them on the ground next to him before he got a determined look on his face. 

“Hey! You guys need to get off the pile of rubble! Any place that wasn’t crushed could cave in. The person in there might become more injured!” Kyungsoo yelled as he moved toward the building. He dropped his bags on the ground as the men on the rubble started to retreat. Then Kyungsoo heard a voice from behind him. 

“My daughters are in there! Please, you need to help them!” the woman yelled as tears continued to flow down her face. Kyungsoo turned toward her, brown eyes piercing in their determination. He turned back to the rubble and closed his eyes. He concentrated and imagined the rubble floating upward. He heard the clanking of bricks hitting each other and he opened his eyes. The rubble that was covering the girls was lifted and he moved it out of the way.

There were two girls. The eldest one looked to be about 15-years-old. She was wearing brown pants and a green shirt. Both articles of clothing were ripped and covered with dust from the debris. Under her, was a smaller girl that appeared to be around the age of seven. She was wearing a green dress with rips and dust all over it. The younger one was crying and holding the older one’s hand. 

“Thank you! You saved my daughters!” the mother of the girls exclaimed, holding her daughters to her chest. 

“Thank you, son! You are a powerful ability user!” The father of the daughters complimented him. 

Kyungsoo felt his face heat up a bit at the praise. “It was nothing, really. Anyone else in my position would have done the same,” Kyungsoo said, looking away from the man. He felt embarrassment and overwhelming pride swell inside him. Then he heard the sound of a building collapsing in the distance. Along with the sound were the screams of people. He quickly turned to the direction and saw the main building starting to collapse onto a group of people. Kyungsoo could feel his heartbeat pick up as he ran toward the group of civilians. 

He stood in front of the small group of at least 2 men and 3 women. Their clothes were slightly torn and covered in dust. The group was all huddled behind him, fear clearly on their faces. Kyungsoo quickly picked up his courage and used his ability. He could feel the weight of the structure as he pushed it back up into its original position. Upon a glance from someone else, it would look like he was pushing the air, but he was able to move the building through the connection of his ability. He could feel the sweat run down the side of his face as he continued to struggle with holding the heavy structure. Once it was back into its position and not a danger to anyone, Kyungsoo collapsed onto his knees, gasping for breath. He hasn’t used his powers like that since his past life. 

“Thank you, young man!” said one of the men from the group he had just saved. 

“We would have been killed if you didn’t help us!” one of the women exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh, I almost died!” said the 2nd woman from the group. 

“What did he do to the building?” asked the 2nd man from the group. 

“Are you alright, young man?” asked the last woman. Kyungsoo looked up from where he was kneeling. He was sweating profoundly and was extremely exhausted as well. 

“I’ll be fine, Ma’am. I just need a minute of rest. I haven’t used my ability for a long time,” Kyungsoo replied, sounding breathless. He was helped up from his spot on the ground by one of the women. She had grabbed him by the arm and supported him when he stumbled a bit. He felt a bit pathetic for having someone help him. He was supposed to be strong, not weak. He recovers quickly and the woman loosens her hold on him. He stood up straight even as his legs wobbled slightly. He was a bit dazed before he was snapped out of it by loud screams of terror coming from his right. He looked up and saw that there was a large fire that was engulfing the whole village. The fire was getting closer to them and Kyungsoo knew what he had to do. He stood up, despite his aching muscles, and ran in front of the fire. He used the last of his strength to bring up part of the earth making a slab. He moved it so that it was right above the fire. He dropped it and the fire was put out instantly. He lost concentration and he felt strange. He felt like he was floating and he was so tired. He stood there, not noticing that the villagers were all cheering for him. He fell to his knees in exhaustion as the world faded out. He could feel everything tilt as he fell onto his right side. He was out before his head touched the ground. 

**_He was a few feet away from her when the plasma beam hit her. Kyungsoo held her in his arms as she turned to dust, the teddy bear that the little girl was holding was the only thing left. He held onto the teddy bear and cried out in desperation as the droids closed in on him. Just as they were about to hit him, everything turned black. When his vision cleared, he found that he wasn’t in the same place as before. He was in a room that was far away from the fighting._ **

**_“D.O! How could you be so stupid as to let your guard down in a warzone!?” someone yelled at him. Kyungsoo looked up from the teddy bear in his arms at the person. The person, most likely a male, was blurry and looked like a black blob with blue on the top. Kyungsoo looked back at the teddy bear._ **

**_“I let her die,_ ** Suho **_! They turned her to dust in my arms!” Kyungsoo yelled back. He was upset, with both the figure and himself. If he was faster, then the girl would still be alive. He wouldn’t have been a failure, again. Kyungsoo looked back down at the ground. Tears were streaming down his face once again._ **

**_“I’m sorry D.O. There was nothing you could have done. The Red Force was too prepared this time,” another black blob said. This time, the blob had purple hair._ **

**_“I know_ ** Kai **_. I just wish that I was faster,” Kyungsoo said as the person brought him into a hug. Their hug was cut short when an explosion went off near where they were hiding._ **

**_“Damn it! How did they find us?!_ ** Kai **_, get D.O out of here! I’ll distract them!” the blue-haired blob yelled._ **

**_“I can’t just leave you here_ ** Suho **_! You’re the leader. We need you!” the purple-haired blob yelled._ **

**_“Then come back for me after your return D.O to the base._ ** Lay **_can heal up any injuries he has and the beagle line can cheer him up a bit,” the blue-haired blob said calmly._ **

**_“Fine! I’ll be back though!” the purple-haired blob said. Just before they left, Kyungsoo saw the robots from earlier burst into the room and start shooting at them. His vision was covered in black as he saw the blue-haired blob run into battle._ **


	3. Chapter 3

Kyungsoo woke up with a start. His breathing was heavy as if he had just run a marathon. He tried to slow his breathing and calm himself down. He didn’t think that the nightmare would have continued. He shook his head. He didn’t have time to focus on a nightmare. He had things to do and places to be. He sat up from the lying position on the soft surface he was sleeping on. He looked around the room, taking in the details. He was in a dull brown room on a bed with grey covers. There was light filtering through the window on his left. He noticed that on his right, there was a desk with a plate of rice, bread, and carrots and a glass of water. His two bags were placed next to him on the floor near the desk. He swung his legs off the bed and reached for the glass of water that was on the desk. He took a large gulp and placed the half-empty glass back on the desk. He took the plate of food from the table and took the bread. He took a bite and found that it was soft. He then proceeded to eat the rest of the food on the plate and quickly finished the glass of water. He sighed in contentment before he grabs his bags and the dirty dishware and leaves the room. 

He closed the door behind him and looked around. The hallway he was in had doors that were evenly spaced and looked just like his. To his right, the hall ended in a wall with a painting on it. It was too far away for him to see what it was. He looked to the left and saw a staircase at the end of the hallway. He turned to his left and walked down the hallway to the stairs. They were covered with a dull dark green carpet and the banister was made of dark brown wood. He walked down the stairs at a slow pace, taking in his surroundings. When he reached the bottom, he found himself in a large lobby. He saw several couches and chairs the color of green with people sitting and laying all around them. One of them, who is reading a book, looks up and sees Kyungsoo. It was a woman with greyish brown hair and wrinkles on her face. She stood up and placed the book she was reading on the table next to the cushioned chair she was sitting on. 

“Thank goodness you are awake,” she said as she walked toward him. The people in the room looked up from what they were doing at the sound of the woman’s voice. Kyungsoo was suddenly surrounded by several people. He couldn't understand the unique things they were saying. There was a loud whistling sound and everyone became quiet. The women with greyish brown hair stepped between all of the people. She stood in front of Kyungsoo.

“Thank you for saving us,” she said as she bowed at a 90-degree angle. Kyungsoo felt a bit embarrassed.

“Please, don’t bow. Anyone with my ability would have done the same,” he said humbly. She stood up straight and shook her head.

“I’m still thankful for your kindness, young man. We all are,” she said, gesturing to the crowd of people surrounding the two of them. The people stayed silent but each of them nodded. 

“I am glad you are all safe, but I need to continue with my journey,” Kyungsoo said, becoming serious at the end of his statement. “I need to go to the border town to warn them of the beast that is coming. They need to be prepared for the coming danger,” he reasoned. The people crowding him and the woman quickly dispersed and went back to their activities. Kyungsoo turned toward the door and started to walk toward it. He stumbled slightly when the woman behind him spoke once again. 

“Good luck, young man. May the blessings of MAMA be with you,” she said before she returned to her seat and her book. Kyungsoo didn’t know that anyone else knew about MAMA. The people in this time called her several different names, but no one had ever called her MAMA. He thought about what the woman said as he walked out the door of the hotel. He snapped out of his thoughts and sped up his walk. He needed to make it to the border town before the beast, or destruction might be upon that town as well.

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Kyungsoo sighed in agitation. He had been walking for hours and he wasn’t even near the edge of the village yet. He looked up at the sky to see where the sun was. It was some time after the sun was in the center of the sky. He sighed again as he readjusted his bags. He looked around at his surroundings in boredom. There were trees, bushes, squirrels, and birds. Then in the far distance ahead of him, he saw a group of small figures. As he got closer to them, they turned into people. He looked around them and sighed in relief when he noticed that there was a long line of people waiting outside the gates of a town. Though, upon looking closer, he noticed that there were some soldiers scattered amongst the people. The soldiers were looking around with guarded looks on their faces while the people were all tense and nervous, flinching at anything that made a sudden noise. 

When Kyungsoo joined the line, several people looked at him in alarm before they returned to what they were doing. He stood there, shifting from foot to foot in nervousness. If the border town was still intact, that meant that he had beat the large boar here. He became increasingly nervous as the boar wasn’t seen. Then he felt slight vibrations in the ground. He concentrated and felt them becoming stronger. Something was moving toward the direction of the border town. He turned toward the direction as the faint sounds of thumping became louder. 

Suddenly, a large boar that was around 24 feet tall appeared from the surrounding forestry. People started screaming and the scattered soldiers ran toward the beast with dull spears and arrows. People started to run away as the soldiers managed to distract the beast for a while as people started to run for cover in the surrounding forestry. Kyungsoo dropped his bags under a nearby tree and turned back towards the fight. Just as he did, he heard the pained yells of the men as they flew through the air and away from the boar. Kyungsoo quickly ran toward the beast, but it continued its rampage into the border town. Kyungsoo ran past the injured soldiers and followed the boar into the town. 

Upon going through the broken wooden gates, he almost ran into a wagon of cabbages. He quickly used his ability to make a sudden lift in the rock under his feet. It made a catapulting effect and shot him over the wagon. He rolled to absorb some of the force of his impact and continued to run after the large boar. 

Suddenly, the boar changes its movements. It stops its charge toward a building and turns to face two people that were trying to get away from the boar. They were cowering in fear after failing to enter a home through a locked door. The first was an elderly lady. Her grey hair contrasted with her brown and green clothing. The small child next to her was wearing the same colors, but a different outfit. From where Kyungsoo was standing, the child looked like a young boy. The boar began its charge toward the two of them and Kyungsoo felt helpless. He looked around for anything that could stop the beast from getting to the civilians. He saw that the boar was going to run past a brick building. 

Kyungsoo closes his eyes, reaches out his mental hands and feels for the texture of the brick building. Once he does, he immediately makes a mental pull with his hands and causes the wall of bricks to tumble down onto the boar just as it began to run past. As the brick wall fell onto the beast, the creature let out a loud squeal and abruptly stopped moving. Kyungsoo ran up to the large boar, moving through the debris, to check if it was actually dead. He stood in front of the creature, but it was no longer breathing. Kyungsoo was relieved. He then turned toward the elderly lady and the child. 

“Thank you, young man. You saved us from a terrible fate,” the elderly lady said as soon as Kyungsoo had turned around. He looked over the woman and the child for any injuries. 

“Are the two of you harmed in any way?” Kyungsoo asked. He felt a sense of worry well up inside him as the small child began to cry. 

“Yes, we appear to be fine, young man,” the elderly woman replied as she dusted off the dust left on the small child’s clothes. Kyungsoo didn’t notice, but as he was talking to the elderly lady, people began to leave the temporary shelters they had found. The sudden cheering from them surprised Kyungsoo. He quickly turned around to face the sudden noise. He watched as the people of the town walked toward the beast and surrounded it. 

From the crowd, two men walked towards the three of them. The first one had some kind of silver armor on and was holding a spear. The other man was well-dressed in fine-looking clothing. As the two men reached their small group, the soldier went to the crying child. 

“Taehyun! Are you okay?! I was so worried about you!” the soldier asked the younger child as he knelt down to the child’s height. 

“The monster was so big and scary! Its eyes glowed red and I was so scared!” the small child, Taehyun, cried to his brother.

“Well, you don’t have to be afraid anymore, your older brother is here to protect you now,” the soldier said, standing up with the child in his arms. 

While that was happening, the man approached the elderly lady. 

“Are you alright?! I thought something bad happened to you!”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, son.”

“But, you almost died!”

“Well, a kind young man saved us from that wild beast,” the elderly lady replied to the man’s worried exclamation. The soldier, who had finished talking to his younger brother, turned to the elderly lady as she spoke of the kind you man. 

“Who is this kind young man? I must talk to him!” the son of the elderly lady exclaimed. The woman turned toward Kyungsoo who was looking at all the destruction that the boar had caused. He was trying to stay out of the conversations that they had even though he could overhear them. He turned back to the others just to see them staring back at him. He blinked in surprise. 

“Hello?” Kyungsoo waved unsure about what he should say. The soldier and the man walked up to him.

“Thank you! You saved my little brother,” the soldier thanked with a small smile. 

“Yes! And you saved my mother,” the man thanked right after, a happy expression laid on his face. 

“There is no need for any thanks. I just did what anyone else would do,” Kyungsoo replied humbly to their thanks. 

“Still, this town is in your debt,” the man paused for a second before he introduced himself. “My name is Mr. Lee, I’m the mayor of this small border town. Who are you, young man? And how did you manage to defeat such a large creature?”

“It is nice to meet you, sir. My name is Do Kyungsoo. All I did was crush the creature with a nearby building. It was not that impressive, sir,” Kyungsoo replied with a slight blush on his cheeks from the subtle praise. The soldier stepped forward. 

“Thank you, again. If you ever need help with anything, just ask me. It’s the least I can do for you since you saved my brother,” the soldier replied before leaving with Taehyun. 

Kyungsoo looked back at the village and all the destruction. “Is there any way I could help rebuild or at least help? I can’t help but feel like this is my fault,” Kyungsoo asked. Mr. Lee looked around at the surroundings as well. 

“Well, you could help if you want to. We do need all the manpower we can get to rebuild the town,” Mr. Lee replied thoughtfully, looking at all the rubble on the street. Mr. Lee and his mother began to approach the other civilians and soldiers who were helping in the cleanup. 

Kyungsoo made his way back to the gates of the village and toward the trees in the surrounding area. Under one of the trees, he found both of his bags, neither had been touched. He sighed in relief and grabbed them, throwing them onto his back. He returned to the village, walking past people that were wandering or tending to the wounded. As he returned to the place with the most damage, he placed his bags on the side and began helping. 

Kyungsoo went to the nearest debris. It was as large as a cow. Kyungsoo grabbed the rock and lifted the piece into the air. As he did that, he mentally grabbed the rock and lifted. The rock became lighter as he moved it toward the nearest cart of debris. Kyungsoo smiled as he brought the heavy rock to the pile. He could definitely get things done now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A FEW HOURS LATER

By the time it was starting to get dark outside, a savory aroma had spread down the street. A small group of villagers had taken the boar away and had sent a young lad to invite the workers to eat. Kyungsoo went over to where his bags sat and grabbed them. He then quickly followed the other villagers as they all stopped working and walked down the street after the lad. Kyungsoo rounded a corner and what he saw fascinated him. Wooden tables had been set up in the village square. It was usually full of carts and booths that were set up for market day. The tables were filled with bread, cooked vegetables, and trays of meat.

“Kyungsoo! Come eat with us,” a new but familiar voice said from one of the tables in the center of the square. Kyungsoo turned and saw that Mr. Lee had invited him to eat with them. Kyungsoo walked over to the table and sat down in an empty seat. The only people at the table were Mr. Lee and his mother. 

“Thank you for inviting me, but you did not need to,” Kyungsoo thanked in a formal way. He placed both of his bags onto the empty bench next to him. 

“Ah. Kyungsoo, we are among friends and family. There is no need to speak so formally to us,” Mr. Lee’s mother stated. Kyungsoo thought for a second before realizing, he didn’t even catch the woman’s name.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but after what we have been through, I still don’t know your name,” Kyungsoo said as an embarrassed blush came onto his face. 

“Well, Kyungsoo, my name is Hye-soo,” Mr. Lee’s mother said with a smile. Kyungsoo smiled back before he began to eat the food on his plate. Just as he was about to bite into a piece of meat, Mr. Lee began to speak. 

“So, Kyungsoo. Why do you want to cross the border?” Mr. Lee asked. 

Kyungsoo felt a bit panicked at the question. He took a deep breath before responding with the story he had decided to tell those who asked. 

“Well… I’ve recently become 18, so I’m finally allowed to cross the border. Ever since I was young, I’ve always wanted to share my food with the world. I’ve actually been cooking and baking foods since I was around the age of 6. I always enjoy working in the kitchen and seeing people eat my food, so I’d like to do that in Exodus,” Kyungsoo replied with a bright smile in the end. He was glad that he had thought of that question and had prepared an honest but only partially true answer. He was not ready to share anything about the Legends.

The dinner continued on quietly before he yawned. Kyungsoo covered his mouth as he yawned. “I’m sorry, I have to leave and find a place to sleep for the night,” Kyungsoo said as he stood up, grabbing his bags as he did. 

“Kyungsoo,” Hye-soo called. Kyungsoo turns back around to face the older woman. “You can stay in my guest bedroom. I haven’t had visitors for a long time. It would be nice to have some company,” Hye-soo offered. Kyungsoo thought about the offer for a second but nodded anyway. 

“Sure, but only if you’re sure about this,” Kyungsoo replied. Hye-soo stood up from her seat and walked away from the square. Kyungsoo quickly followed after the woman. They walked until the streets were clear, then Kyungsoo spoke. 

“Thank you, for letting me stay with you tonight, Ms. Hye-soo. It was very kind of you,” Kyungsoo thanked. 

“It was my pleasure,” Hye-soo replied. A few seconds of silence went by before she spoke again. “I know who you are, Kyungsoo,” Hye-soo said seriously. Kyungsoo felt fear when she said that. 

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, hiding his fear with confusion. 

“Now, now, Kyungsoo. There is no need to be like that. I know that you are the reincarnation of the Legend of Strength.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “How did you know? I tried to keep my abilities as discreet as possible.”

Hye-soo looked at Kyungsoo. “My ancestors passed down the story of the Legend of Strength from generation to generation. It was common knowledge that the Legend of Strength had the ability of Earth, and in turn, had the ability of great strength,” she began. “Though it was also said that the Legend of Strength would do anything to save those in harm’s way, including placing himself in harm’s way. Along with the story, my ancestors passed down a picture of him and you, my boy, look like a carbon copy of him,” Hye-soo sighed as she began to finish. “Sadly, the picture of him was destroyed when I was young.” 

Hye-soo then stopped in front of a small single-story house in a respectable area. “Well, here we are,” she said. Hye-soo unlocked the front door and entered. Kyungsoo entered after her and looked around. The door opened into a small living area with a fireplace with two comfortable looking chairs at one end of the room on his left. To his right was a small kitchenette with cupboards and a table with chairs. Just past the living area was a small hallway with three doors. 

“The door on the right is the guest room. The door at the end of the hall is the bathroom if you need it,” Hye-soo said as Kyungsoo followed her into the hallway. “Have a nice rest, Kyungsoo. You’re going to need it for your journey,” Hye-soo said as she started to close the door behind her.

“Good-night to you too, Hye-soo. I’ll see you in the morning,” Kyungsoo said as he opened his door, walked in and closed it gently behind him. Kyungsoo leaned against the door as he surveyed his sleeping accommodations for the night. The room was quite spacious, with a wood plank floor that was much warmer than the cool stone walls of the bedroom. There was a dark green coverlet on a good-sized bed that was centered on the left wall with a wooden chest at the foot of it. Across from the doorway under a window, was a wooden desk with a chair. Kyungsoo placed his bags on top of the wooden chest. Kyungsoo sagged as a wave of exhaustion hit him from the extreme use of his gift. He wasn’t used to using his gift as extensively or for such a long duration of time as he did today. He stumbled over to the side of the bed and took off his shoes. It was then that he noticed that there was a soft rug on the floor by the edge of the bed. Someone had been thoughtful and placed it where he would have to put his feet in the morning. As he laid on the bed and pulled up the covers, he noticed how soft the mattress and the pillows were. He fell asleep seconds later, snuggling into the warmth of the covers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One by one the lights in the houses went out as the townspeople turned in for the night, but no one noticed anything unusual. In a nearby dark alley, a set of dark red eyes glowed brightly in the dark as a shadowy figure let out a low and evil laugh before disappearing into the darkness. 

**Author's Note:**

> Take note that I worked on these chapters 2 years ago and haven't really come back because I've been working on so many other things and have also lost inspiration to continue writing what I already have down. If someone would like to have my notes and continue the story, feel welcome to comment and I'll post a chapter with all the notes I have for it. :)


End file.
